on closure

for a change of pace, this time i want to share some advice i gave my mother. brace yourself: this may be the smartest thing i've ever said.
when i was six, i left the resort where my family was staying and hiked up a wooded hill all by myself. my parents had gone into town and my sister was crying because she missed them. so off i went to solve the problem: the plan was to hike to the nearest resort, then to the next, and finally find my way to town, where - i imagined - it would be easy to find mom and dad.

in the meantime, my parents came home, realized i was gone, and freaked out. eventually, they discovered where i was and my dad came to get me. i didn't know what i had done wrong, but i felt horrible. somehow the plan was inherently flawed. then dad explained the problem: i had made three mistakes. i had left corina alone, i had hiked by myself, and i hadn't told anyone where i was going. (the last one was technically untrue, but we'll move on.) then he told me that my mom was back at home, and very upset.

i had never seen my mom cry before, and that was pretty scary for me. somehow, though, i was able to offer her a little wisdom: "mom, lie down and try to forget it ever happened."